Lets get things straight.. we all want to make bucket loads of cash doing stuff we love day by day. Before the advancements of the world wide web, if you wanted to play video games all day or review movies, tv or… really anything, you didn’t have a way in the world of making a living out of it. Now… well you can. and not just a living… a pretty darn good one.

In 2005, YouTube was created. Back then it was merely a site to share funny videos and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of cat videos… don’t forget the cat videos. Now, 11 years later and YouTube is filled with all kinds of videos and people in which are now deemed celebrities from creating content. Although these famous YouTubers have to give up 45 percent of their earnings to the site, they still make a heck of an amount of money. The parents of these video makers may think that they’re wasting their time, until their first check comes in and they surprise mum and dad with a new car, house mortgage and even a holiday just to name a few…

So in the world of YouTube, who is making the most money and what are they doing to earn this living? A lot of them simply play video games and talk about them and others have some sort of original content. Without further ado, here are the top 5 richest YouTube Stars.

5. SkyDoesMinecraft ($2.92 Million)

Dahlberg started as a member of Team Crafted, which was one of the most popular groups that played Minecraft on YouTube. When the team wanted to advertise their videos, Dahlberg wanted out and created his own page, which he dubbed SkyDoesMinecraft. At only 22 years old, Dahlberg has already achieved the ultimate goal of becoming rich while playing video games.

4. Smosh ($4.5 Million)

Smosh is a comedy duo featuring Ian Andrew Hecox and Anthony Padilla.

Both of these men are 27 years old and have been actively posting videos since the days of Newgrounds in 2003. When YouTube became more popular than Newgrounds, they picked up their game and headed over to YouTube, which turned out to be very profitable. While Smosh is active in making parody videos of video games, they don’t necessarily play games and talk about them.

3. DisneyCollectorBR ($5.06 MIllion)

DisneyCollectorBR has more than 1.5 billion views on her page and over a million subscribers, there isn’t much to the videos that she produces. Instead, you just hear DCBR speak while opening Disney items. and thats about it…So why are her videos so popular? Well, it is much easier for parents to show videos of toys on a fancy computer or tablet screen than it is to actually buy the toys for their toddlers. DCBR also has a calming voice which can help babies fall asleep while watching someone play with toys.

It’s a confusing concept, i know, and it’s hard to believe someone got rich off of it, but welcome to the internet era.

2. BluCollection ($6.38 Million)

BluCollection is a page that essentially has the same idea, but instead of just Disney, all toys are welcome. It’s pretty much the same concept, listening to someone’s voice while toys are being opened to put toddlers to sleep.

1. PewDiePie ($8.47 Million)

Ok we all know PewDiePie but i’m gonna get in into it anyway…

PewDiePie is in charge of the most popular page on YouTube, with more than 24 million subscribers. Hailing from the country of Sweden,he plays video games while his face is in one corner of the screen.

Kids eat up these videos like candy and love the reactions that PewDiePie gives while playing video games. What has made him so popular is the fact that he connects with the audience during these videos and is often answering questions that people send in. Nearly four billion views later, and you end up with a multi-millionaire who swears a lot and plays video games.

Journalism has come a long way since the early days of story telling transforming through the evolution of technology. This evolution has created more excessive mediums for journalism to travel through: newspaper, tv, the internet, social media you name it… You can probably tell and journalise through it to other people. So where am i getting at with this exactly?…
CITIZEN JOURNALISM!

So what is citizen journalism I here you all metaphorically asking. Citizen journalism is the way to be a journalist of your own will. where you are unpaid and just distributing useful information publicly so that others can benefit from your knowledge. Well that’s how i put it anyway… This can range from social news sites ran by local groups targeting small towns to even the use of dash cams to show bad driving. Any information that goes on and benefits someone’s knowledge is journalism.

Sutherland Shire News is a locally ran Facebook page that helps to aid the people of ‘The shire’ with information that has happened in the suburbs day to day. This is a great example of citizen journalism as it shows just how a few people can help the public. The 4 people that run this page obtain information from real sources and people at certain scenes to inform everyone what is going on close to their towns. The unpaid work helps many day to day and i think it is classified as citizen journalism.

Dash cam Owners Australia is a youtube page that was made to ‘Spread Dash Cam awareness and safer driving/ riding’. To be honest i did spend over an hour watching all different dash cam videos on this page… so yeh it works! This is a prime example of citizen journalism and is great to show everyone accidents that they may have seen during the week or even just to watch some pretty stupid drivers either way it is excellent to communicate to the public a message.

For my Digital Artefact I am filming and recording a different singer songwriter or band from the Sutherland Shire each week to boost the popularity of artists in the region. Because my Digital Artefact is film based content every week, majority of my sources that I am referencing are YouTube videos.

Triple J Like A VersionThis was the original source in which my idea was created. Seeing new content produced weekly that put different artists on a national pedestal sparked my idea that I could do it on a smaller scale then the population of Australia. I could do it to God’s Country – The Sutherland Shire. Since these videos are only one take with many different cameras filming, I will have to do multiple takes as I am one man with one camera. This could be a good thing as I will have more scope of shots and recordings. Like a Versions are a great way to get the public in with the understanding of artists music tastes.

HKRC SessionsThis will be quite similar to my videos, the only difference – these are shot outside. Sam Brumby the videographer in these videos works close with the band Sticky Fingers and made this video along with many of their others. In my videos I will work with many more artists than just one band as I am trying to broaden the knowledge of music in my local region. This video is done with different takes and one man with one camera, you can notice this by the changes in camera angles throughout the video. Although this video has good sound quality and good ideas, the filming is not particular spectacular and a little unsteady.

Bushmills Live Sessions
Bushmill Sessions are very professionally filmed with great lighting and crisp recording. The shots are very steady, clearly focused and show greatly what they are playing and singing. The close ups of the mouths from side on indicate clearly the vocals of the singer, an idea I would like to emulate in my productions. Although I do not have my own lighting equipment I will try make do without and alter the room lighting to help me for the project. The still shot on the tripod it cuts to and from is also a great tool for a basic shot that is in the video the whole time.

Gracelands LiveThe artists name and production company in the introduction of the video is a great looking and clever way to show introductory credits to the video, it also doesn’t take away from what you came to watch. In my videos I wish to emulate this with my own ‘Hayden Jamess Sessions’ logo. The audio production in this video is very poor as they haven’t produced the audio or recorded it, the only recording is done by the camera which does not have a quality microphone. All my videos will be professionally recorded.

Distiller Music
This is probably the most professionally made video out of any of my sources. Distiller Music, use a great combination of crisp, clear audio and magnificent visuals to create a masterpiece of production. Although most of their products are videos of bands, I will try my best to attempt the great combination of both these mediums vital to the production of music videos. The logo in the bottom left hand of the video is also very clever for the branding of the company.

BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge
Again although this is a video of a band, the idea is still similar. Since I do not have the funds for some of the equipment they use to record or film etc. I am limited to what I can achieve but will do my best to try make the final products similar. The concept of the videos are very similar with fast changing camera angles, focusing on the singer and his vocals.

Paste StudiosThis video uses all lighting based from the room (roof lights, windows etc.) and no artificial lighting. Although it does this the lighting is magnificent and has clearly gone through some colour corrections and grading to give it such a beautiful tone of colours. The camera is also on a film rig as the smooth panning and focusing is very noticeable. This is probably my favourite out of all the sources I have provided as they have done a stellar job of capturing the emotion and power of one man and a microphone.

This ad on the boundaries and biases that love and relationships are crafted by, helps depict a well crafted message put together to highlight societies non intended bias toward relationships. Society often make snap judgements on situations depending on their contextual views and backgrounds. Commonly known as bias. In the video this can be seen by the reactions of the audience when the true identities of the people behind the X-ray screen are shown.

Different people in the audience obviously have different reactions because they have a different history. Some people have little to no reaction seeing the act as normal when others take a totally different message from the situation. For some this may be seen as ‘disgusting’ or ‘unnatural’ depending on what their views are on the situation.

The video shows many diverse relationships from partners, friend and even family’s. All of which are commonly categorised by society as being ‘different’. The purpose of the advertisement on multiple levels is to show that common bias shouldn’t be used in everyday situation and that it should ultimately be deceased to create a more accepting and less judgemental society. Obviously someone different to me would have different ideas of what this communicates and also a different oppinion on the situation, but the message that it communicates is universal.

“Love has no label” – Ad Council

This is split into the labels that are commonly targeted by society such as

Love has no gender

Love has no race

Love has no religion

Love has no age and..

Love has no disability

All of these are common biases in society that are targeted in relationships and are all issues that face the world today. Gay rights and the ‘issue’ of same love is a huge topic around the world especially in Australia at the moment and this can be portrayed clearly through this video as it shows a family of two dads and two women who look to be together.

This is an extremely clear example of media production that shows multiple levels of ideas and can be referred to as a media text.

What hasn’t Apple done that has taken the world by storm since the iPhone? No matter how non divergent there products, updates or doings are everyone still buys them. They control most of our lives by their convergence. They know our location, most private information and have access to everything we technically have acces to.

Is that not scary?? A phone that is pretty much a computer has the power to give the creators any information they want if they have reasoning.

It is like a huge ubiquitous computer now, all around us, all the time. The interface is the very world we live in. – Alex Washburn, Wired

Now it’s good that Apple have stated they wouldn’t give any information to anybody for any reason (even the FBI), but it still shows how much they have taken over.

In the past 3 years Apple phones have overtaken desktops and computers in general I’m internet usage. That is crazy! Everyone using there phones have walked up a shit tonne of data.

With the new iPhones, iPads and Apple Watch, Apple is building a world in which there is a computer in your every interaction. A computer in your pocket. A computer on your body. A computer paying for all your purchases. A computer opening your hotel room door. A computer monitoring your movements. A computer watching you sleep. A computer controlling the devices in your home. A computer that tells you where you parked. A computer taking your pulse, telling you how many steps you took, and how many calories you burned—and sharing it all with your friends. A computer in your car. All of it the same computer: The computer in the sky that connects to the computer in your pocket and on your wrist and in your car, your office, and your home.

So what can’t they do? What is the true definition of media convergence. Apple. Apple is the definition.

Is anything in modern society new? Is any idea actually original or is it interpreted and moulded from ideas of the past. Even Shakespeare-who is named the best play right of all time, used older pastimes as the basis and idea of his story. So where is his copyright infringement?? Is he really as great as made out?? Well I think so.. Just because the idea wasn’t completely based on an original story, your own individual variations make it what it is!

Look at movies of the last 15 years.. I assure you any thing you think of has either been adapted from a book or comic or it has been moulded from a past story in some way. Should there be a “best original picture” categorie in the academy awards?? Is it really original? I think most modern films take other people’s ideas and create a new film that is more relevant to society which it has to do to communicate a strong following.

So needless to say everything I am using right now to create this blog post is a medium. The keyboard i am typing on, the chair i am sitting on, the screen i am viewing, the mouse i am clicking, even the god damn water i am drinking is a medium of something much bigger that is not really the true focus of society and the human condition.“The medium is the message” – Marshall McLuhan
McLuhan also suggested that “a message is the change of scale, pace or pattern of behaviour”, this is where my ideas of the medium is the message come in.
Although we do not always see it media content is constantly migrating to fit societal standards. From the Papyrus scroll to the first book, vinyl to record tape to CD to mp3, or even analog film to digital cameras, we can see migration and alteration of media platforms to create more advanced technologies. Now, in saying this a person is also defined by what interests and molds them. Cue the topic of this blog..
Why are old technologies being re-used and migrated today?Today we see old media platforms like the record player or film cameras used daily, but what is the point why not just use everything new? Some people argue “old is always better” or “they only use them because they’re hipster” but really my understanding is the quote i started with. “a medium is any extension of ourselves”.
I can say myself that i for one still use records and still own a 35mm film camera that I use as regularly or if not more so then my DSLR. Sure it costs more to use and produce content but hell its worth it. It wasn’t until I heard the quote above that i realised what the medium is the message actually meant. The medium in which we communicate our own individual self and self expression should be the focus and not the message.

I hope i made some sense in this post hahaha 😛 if so please come back soon
Hayden

When questioned about the world around you and how the media contributes to the foreground of its entire existence, your mind (as i’ve discovered this week) tends to run rabidly through every existential question you could possibly think of. Now, to be completely honest, I not really being able to fathom what the flippity frack was going on during the most part of the “Media Audiences” lecture, could pull one simple message out of it.

THE MEDIA IS A SH!TSHOW

Now, when I say this i’m not saying its the most horrible thing in the world and that it should fall into the depths of Mordor. But what I am saying is, just like ‘the one ring to rule them all’, the media has its own power and its own evil ruling over anyone and anything it has in it’s grasp, making that person or people fall for it’s deceit and become physically and emotionally crafted by it. The media is ‘the one thing to rule them all’. Ok thats enough with the lord of the rings analogies now.. As I said before it took me quite a while to actually understand the ideas that were presented in the lecture, that was until I was introduced to it in a way that is more suited to my confused brain… Music.

It wasn’t until laying in bed on Wednesday night after our lecture I realised what the flippity frack had happened today. With a little help from Matt Healy and The 1975’s new album “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” (i know that’s a struggle and a half to write…), i finally had a deeper understanding of the topic at hand. Ironically I was shown this by… yes, the media. But that’s besides the point! In the song “Love Me” the anxieties that the media create a very clear. In the line “caught up in fashion, a Karcrashian Panache” we are shown that society is so glued to what celebrities are wearing or what their body shapes are, that the emotional and anxious thoughts about their own bodies become clear as they don’t think they will be accepted in the social norm and be classed as “good looking” or “hip”. The singer plays on the name of one of the world’s most famous families, the Kardashians and how many people around the world are trying to follow that image.

Another song from this album, “Loving someone” targets how media is having a huge social impact on our beliefs. The line “Just keep holding their necks and keep selling them sex. It’s better if we keep them perplexed. It’s better if we make them want the opposite sex”, commentates on how the media abuses sex in order to keep the society engaged. Matt Healy characterizes the rampant use of sex as overwhelming, inescapable physical restraint. Matty also calls out compulsory heterosexuality he critiques the way that media and society force people into hetero-normative roles. Many are labeled “straight” and conscripted into heterosexuality before they even really have a firm grasp on the concept of love or sexuality at all.
Another line “Even Guy Debord needed spectacles” is a reference to critical theorist Guy Debord, whose text The Society of the Spectacle was a foundational text for the Situationist movement. The Situationists critiqued the spectacle of media’s influence on the working class, leading to social alienation and rampant commodity fetishism.

So, through these examples you can probably see just how the anxieties and “ways of living” are portrayed by the media, through the media itself. Also answering the question i was originally startled by; What are the current anxieties about media audiences and the media we are using?